TORONTO — The Jets last night won a game to remain relevant for at least one more week in their roller-coaster season, but they lost a quarterback in the process.
The euphoria from their gritty 19-13 payback win over the Bills at the Rogers Centre was sapped when the Jets lost Mark Sanchez to a right knee injury in the third quarter.
The severity of the injury isn’t known, with Sanchez scheduled to have an MRI exam today. It didn’t appear serious on the surface — he walked off the field to the locker room under his own power — but Sanchez didn’t return to the game or the sideline.
Asked how he feels about playing next week, Sanchez said, “I have no idea.”
“It doesn’t feel right, that’s for sure,” he said.
Afterward, coach Rex Ryan was as pointed and critical as he has been of his rookie quarterback all season.
“I love the kid, but he’s got to grow up and understand that he represents our entire organization, and we want what’s best for him,” Ryan said. “I know why he did it. He wouldn’t have made the first down if he would have slid, but he’s got to understand I don’t care about the first down. I care about him and he has to understand that.”
The injury occurred with 9:27 remaining in the third quarter when Sanchez dove head-first at the end of an 8-yard scramble for a first down.
Sanchez, who wears a protective brace on his left knee (the one he tweaked last Sunday after falling forward awkwardly after a run), landed on his right knee.
He played two more downs, both handoffs, before limping to the sideline and being replaced by Kellen Clemens with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter.
The injury and the way it occurred was particularly maddening to the Jets considering that Ryan had brought in Yankees manager Joe Girardi on Tuesday to give Sanchez personal instruction on sliding in an effort to keep him healthy.
“The kid’s got to understand we’re trying to teach him to slide,” Ryan said. “I know he’s trying to get the first down. OK, if he would have slid, we wouldn’t have gotten the first down, but we might not have had a quarterback get hurt either. He’s got to understand that it’s in the organization’s best interest to slide in and that was disappointing.
“He just has to understand, this guy is crucial for our organization’s success and he can’t be reckless. Maybe this little setback will show him how serious we are about this. I never want him diving forward. I don’t want to see that. I thought we were clear on it.”
Asked about Sanchez’ prognosis, Ryan said, “We’ll see how it is. I’m optimistic. It may just be a sprain, but we’ll know a lot more later. We feel pretty confident that it’s just a sprain.”
Sanchez said the knee “started to hurt after that play,” referring to the scramble.
“I’m probably going to take some heat for not sliding, but in the heat of the moment, I was just trying to get the first down,” Sanchez said. “Sorry to Coach Girardi. He spent all that time trying to help me.”
When told of Ryan’s anger about the decision not to slide, Sanchez said, “Rex wants me to slide, everybody wants me to slide and in the heat of the moment, I was really trying to get a first down. It’s just the way I play. I regret not [sliding]. But it’s something I need to evaluate and learn from.”
If Sanchez is out for an extended period of time, the Jets will have to find out a lot about themselves with Clemens at quarterback.
They survived last night, winning their second game in five days to get back to .500 at 6-6 and have some renewed hope at making a run at the playoffs.
Sanchez, who threw five interceptions and had an 8.3 passer rating in a 16-13 overtime loss to Buffalo last month, finished the game 7-of-15 for 104 yards and a touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards. The Jets ground up the Bills again, rushed for 249 yards. Thomas Jones led the with 109 yards on 23 carries.
Jay Feely added field goals of 38, 49, 31 and 37 yards.
Cornerback Darrelle Revis, who for the second time this season shut down Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens (three catches for 31 yards), sealed the game with an interception with 2:02 remaining in the game Buffalo trying to mount a comeback.
mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com